System and Method for Pushing Information from a Host System to a Mobile Data Communication Device

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, a mobile data communication device operable with a redirector component disposed in a wide-area data network. The claimed embodiment comprises a structure for manipulating a set of filtering rules configured for a user associated with the mobile data communication device, the filtering rules operating in conjunction with a redirector component disposed in a wide-area data network; and a structure for determining that a data item received at the mobile data communication device responsive to the filtering rules is a data item redirected from the redirector component based on examining a redirection flag associated with the data item.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.09/401,868, filed on Sep. 23, 1999 and entitled “System and Method forPushing Information From a Host System to a Mobile Data CommunicationDevice,” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.09/087,623, filed on May 29, 1998 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,219,694). Theentire specification of these applications, including the drawingfigures, are hereby incorporated into the present application byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is directed toward the field of replicatinginformation from a host system where the information is normally storedto a mobile data communication device. In particular, the system andmethod of the present invention provide an event-driven redirectioncomputer program (“redirector program”) operating at the host system,which, upon sensing a particular user-defined event has occurred,redirects user-selected data items (or parts thereof) from the hostsystem to the user's mobile data communication device. The mobile datacommunication device is preferably coupled to the host system via awireless network and one or more landline networks. Due to the bandwidthlimitations of wireless networks, only a part of a user-selected dataitem is generally redirected to the user's mobile device, with the usergiven the option of then retrieving the entire data item (or some otherpart of the data item) from the host system.

2. Description of the Related Art

Present systems and methods for replicating information from a hostsystem to a user's mobile data communication device are typically“synchronization” systems in which the user's data items are warehoused(or stored) at the host system for an indefinite period of time untilthe user synchronizes the mobile device to the host system. In thesetypes of systems and methods, when replication of the warehoused dataitems to the mobile device is desired, the user typically places themobile device in an interface cradle that is electrically connected tothe host system via some form of local, dedicated communication, such asa serial cable or an infrared or other type of wireless link. Softwareexecuting on the mobile data communication device then transmitscommands via the local communications link to the host system to causethe host to begin transmitting the user's data items for storage in amemory bank of the mobile device.

In these synchronization schemes, the mobile unit “pulls” the warehousedinformation from the host system in a batch-mode each time the userdesires to replicate information between the two devices. Thus, the twosystems (host and mobile) maintain the same data items only after auser-initiated synchronization sequence.

A general problem with these synchronization systems is the fact thatthe data in the mobile device is only current at the moment ofsynchronization with the host. Five minutes later a new message could besent to the user, but the user would not receive that message until thenext time the systems are synchronized. Thus, a user may fail to respondto an emergency update or message because the user only periodicallysynchronizes the system, such as once per day.

Other problems with these systems include: (1) the amount of data to bereconciled between the host and the mobile device can become large ifthe user does not “synchronize” on a daily or hourly basis, leading tobandwidth difficulties, particularly when the mobile device iscommunicating via a wireless packet-switched network; and (2)reconciling large amounts of data, as can accrue in these batch-modesynchronization systems, can require a great deal of communicationbetween the host and the mobile device, thus leading to a more complex,costly and energy-inefficient system.

Thus, there is a general need in this field for a more automated,continuous, efficient, flexible, and reliable system of ensuring thatuser data items are replicated (in real time) at the user's mobiledevice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and method for pushing information from a host system to amobile data communication device upon sensing a triggering event isprovided. A redirector program operating at the host system enables auser to continuously redirect certain user-selected data items from thehost system to the user's mobile data communication device upondetecting that one or more user-defined triggering events has occurred.The redirector program operates in connection with event generatingapplications and repackaging systems at the host system to configure anddetect a particular user-defined event, and then to repackage theuser-selected data items in an electronic wrapper prior to pushing thedata items to the mobile device.

Using the redirector program, the user can select certain data items forredirection, such as E-mail messages, calendar events, meetingnotifications, address entries, journal entries, personal reminders etc.Having selected the data items for redirection, the user can thenconfigure one or more event triggers to be sensed by the redirectorprogram, which then initiates redirection of the user data items uponsensing one or more of the event triggers. These user-defined triggerpoints (or event triggers) may be external events, internal events ornetworked events. Once an event has triggered redirection of the userdata items, the host system then repackages these items in a manner thatis transparent to the mobile data communication device, so thatinformation on the mobile device appears similar to information on theuser's host system.

The redirector program also provides a set of software-implementedcontrol functions for determining the type of mobile data communicationdevice and its address, for programming a preferred list of messagetypes that are to be redirected, and for determining whether the mobiledevice can receive and process certain types of message attachments,such as word processor or voice attachments. The mobile device controlfunctions are initially set by the user of the mobile device at the hostsystem. These functions can then be altered on a global or per messagebasis by transmitting a command message from the mobile device to thehost system.

In an alternative embodiment, the redirector program executes on anetwork server, and the server is programmed to detect numerousredirection event triggers over the network from multiple user desktopcomputers coupled to the server via a local-area-network (“LAN”). Theserver can receive internal event triggers from each of the userdesktops via the network, and can also receive external event triggers,such as messages from the users' mobile data communication devices. Inresponse to receiving one of these triggers, the server redirects theuser's data items to the proper mobile data communication device. Thisalternative configuration could also include an Internet orIntranet-located web server including the redirector program that couldbe accessible through a secure Web page or other user interface. In thisconfiguration, the redirector program could be located on an InternetService Provider's (“ISP's”) system, and the user would configure (andreconfigure) the program controls over an Internet connection to theISP's system.

In another embodiment, the redirector program operates at both the hostsystem and at the user's mobile data communication device. In thisconfiguration, the user's mobile device operates similarly to the hostsystem described below, and is configured in a similar fashion to pushcertain user-selected data items from the mobile device to the user'shost system (or some other computer) upon detecting an event trigger atthe mobile device. This configuration provides two-way pushing ofinformation from the host to the mobile device and from the mobiledevice to the host.

The primary advantage of the present invention is that it provides asystem and method for triggering the continuous and real-timeredirection of user-selected data items from a host system to a mobiledata communication device. Other advantages of the present inventioninclude: (1) flexibility in defining the types of user data to redirect,and in defining a preferred list of message types that are to beredirected or preferred senders whose messages are to be redirected; (2)flexibility in configuring the system to respond to numerous internal,external and networked triggering events; (3) transparent repackaging ofthe user data items in a variety of ways such that the mobile datacommunication device appears as though it were the host system; (4)integration with other host system components such as E-mail, TCP/IP,keyboard, screen saver, Web pages and certain programs that can eithercreate user data items or be configured to provide trigger points; and(5) the ability to operate locally on a user's desktop system or at adistance via a network server or through a secure Internet connection.

These are just a few of the many advantages of the present invention, asdescribed in more detail below. As will be appreciated, the invention iscapable of other and different embodiments, and its several details arecapable of modifications in various respects, all without departing fromthe spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptionof the preferred embodiments set forth below are to be regarded asillustrative in nature and not restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention satisfies the needs noted above as will becomeapparent from the following description when read in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing the redirection of user data itemsfrom a user's desktop PC (host system) to the user's mobile datacommunication device, where the redirector software is operating at theuser's desktop PC;

FIG. 2 is a system diagram showing the redirection of user data itemsfrom a network server (host system) to the user's mobile datacommunication device, where the redirector software is operating at theserver;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the interaction of the redirectorsoftware with other components of the host system in FIG. 1 (the user'sdesktop PC) to enable the pushing of information from the host system tothe user's mobile data communication device;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the steps carried out by the redirectorsoftware operating at the host system;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the steps carried out by the mobile datacommunication device to interface with the redirector software operatingat the host system;

FIG. 6 is a system diagram showing the redirection of user data itemsfrom a user's host system to the user's mobile data communicationdevice, where the redirector software is operating at the wirelessredirector host system;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the interaction of the redirectorsoftware with other components of the host system in FIG. 6 to enablethe pushing of information from the host system to the user's mobiledata communications device; and

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the steps carried out by the redirectorsoftware operating at the wireless redirector host system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 is an example system diagramshowing the redirection of user data items (such as message A or C) froma user's desktop PC (host system) 10A to the user's mobile datacommunication device 24, where the redirector software 12 is operatingat the user's PC 10A. As used in this application, the term “hostsystem” refers to the computer where the redirector software isoperating. In the preferred embodiment, the host system is a user'sdesktop PC 10A. Alternatively, however, the host system could be anetwork server (10B, see FIG. 2) connected to the user's PC via alocal-area network (“LAN”), or it could be a Web server (240, see FIG.6) operating through a secure network connection or operating at anexternal ISP, or the host system could be any other system that iscapable of communicating with-the user's desktop PC.

Message A in FIG. 1 represents an internal message sent from desktop 26to the user's host system 10A via LAN 14. Message C in FIG. 1 representsan external message from a sender that is not directly connected to LAN14, such as the user's mobile data communication device 24, some otheruser's mobile device (not shown), or any user connected to the Internet18. Message C also represents a command message from the user's mobiledata communication device 24 to the host system 10A. As described inmore detail in FIG. 3, the desktop host system 10A preferably includes,along with the typical hardware and software associated with aworkstation or desktop computer, the redirector program 12, a TCP/IPsubsystem 42, a primary message store 40, an E-mail subsystem 44, ascreen saver subsystem 48, and a keyboard subsystem 46.

In FIG. 1, the host system 10A is the user's desktop system, typicallylocated in the user's office. The desktop host system 10A is connectedto a LAN 14, which also connects to other computers 26, 28 that may bein the user's office or elsewhere. The LAN 14, in turn, is connected toa wide area network (“WAN”) 18, preferably the Internet, which isdefined by the use of the Transmission Control Protocol/InternetProtocol (“TCP/IP”) to exchange information, but which, alternatively,could be any other type of WAN. The connection of the LAN 14 to the WAN18 is via high bandwidth link 16, typically a T1 or T3 connection. TheWAN 18 in turn is connected to a variety of gateways 20, via connections32. A gateway forms a connection or bridge between the WAN 18 and someother type of network, such as an RF wireless network, cellular network,satellite network, or other synchronous or asynchronous land-lineconnection.

In the example of FIG. 1, a wireless gateway 20 is connected to theInternet for communicating via wireless link 22 to a plurality ofwireless mobile data communication devices 24. Also shown in FIG. 1 ismachine 30, which could be a FAX machine, a printer, a system fordisplaying images (such as video) or a machine capable of processing andplaying audio files, such as a voice mail system.

The present invention includes the ability to redirect certain messageattachments to such an external machine 30 if the redirector programconfiguration data reflects that the mobile device 24 cannot receive andprocess the attachments, or if the user has specified that certainattachments are not to be forwarded to mobile device 24, even if suchdevice can process those attachments. By way of example, consider anE-mail sent to a user that includes three attachments—a word processingdocument, a video clip and an audio clip. The redirection program 12could be configured to send the text of the E-mail to the remote device24, to send the word processing document to a networked printer locatednear the user, to send the video clip to a memory store accessiblethrough a secure connection through the internet and to send the audioclip to the user's voice mail system. This example is not intended tolimit the breadth and scope of the invention, but rather to illustratethe variety of possibilities embodied in the redirection concept.

The preferred mobile data communication device 24 is a hand-held two-waywireless paging computer, a wirelessly enabled palm-top computer, amobile telephone with data messaging capabilities, or a wirelesslyenabled laptop computer, but could, alternatively be other types ofmobile data communication devices capable of sending and receivingmessages via a network connection 22. Although it is preferable for thesystem to operate in a two-way communications mode, certain aspects ofthe invention could be beneficially used in a “one and one-half” oracknowledgment paging environment, or even with a one-way paging system.The mobile data communication device 24 includes software programinstructions that work in conjunction with the redirector program 12 toenable the seamless, transparent redirection of user-selected dataitems. FIG. 4 describes the basic method steps of the redirector program12, and FIG. 5 describes the steps of the corresponding programoperating at the mobile device 24.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, not explicitlyshown in the drawings, the mobile device 24 also includes a redirectedprogram. In this embodiment, user selected data items can be replicatedfrom the host to the mobile device and vice versa. The configuration andoperation of the mobile device 24 having a redirector program is similarto that described herein with respect to FIGS. 1-4.

A user of the present invention can configure the redirector program 12to push certain user-selected data items to the user's mobile datacommunication device 24 when the redirector 12 detects that a particularuser-defined event trigger (or trigger point) has taken place.User-selected data items preferably include E-mail messages, calendarevents, meeting notifications, address entries, journal entries,personal alerts, alarms, warnings, stock quotes, news bulletins, etc.Alternatively, the user-selected data items could include any other typeof message that is transmitted to the host system 10A, or that the hostsystem 10A acquires through the use of intelligent agents, such as datathat is received after the host system 10A initiates a search of adatabase, a Web site or a bulletin board. In some instances, only aportion of the data item is transmitted to the mobile device 24 in orderto minimize the amount of data transmitted via the wireless network 22.In these instances, the mobile device 24 can optionally send a commandmessage (C) to the host system 10A to retrieve more or all of the dataitem if the user desires to receive it.

The user-defined event triggers include external events, internal eventsand networked events. External events preferably include: (1) receivinga command message (such as message C) from the user's mobile datacommunication device to begin redirection, or to execute some othercommand at the host, such as a command to enable the “preferred listmode” (described below), or to add or subtract a particular sender fromthe preferred list of the preferred list mode; (2) receiving a similarmessage from some external computer; and (3) sensing that the user is nolonger in the vicinity of the host system; although, alternatively, anexternal event can be any s other detectable occurrence that is externalto the host system 10.

Internal events may include a calendar alarm, screen saver activation,keyboard timeout, programmable timer, or any other user-defined eventthat is internal to the host system 10. Networked events areuser-defined messages that are transmitted to the host system fromanother computer coupled to the host system 10A via a network toinitiate redirection. These are just some of the event triggers thatcould be used with the present invention to initiate replication of theuser-selected data items from the host system 10A to the mobile device24. Other types of triggers are also within the scope of the presentinvention.

FIG. 1 shows an E-mail message A being communicated over LAN 14 fromcomputer 26 to the user's desktop system 10A (also shown in FIG. 1 is anexternal message C, which could be an E-mail message from an Internetuser, or could be a command message from the user's mobile device 24).Once the message A (or C) reaches the primary message store of the hostsystem 10A, it can be detected and acted upon by the redirectionsoftware 12. The redirection software 12 can use many methods ofdetecting new messages. The preferred method of detecting new messagesis using Microsoft's® Messaging API (“MAPI”), in which programs, such asthe redirector program 12, register for notifications or ‘advise syncs’when changes to a mailbox take place. Other methods of detecting newmessages could also be used.

Assuming that the redirector program 12 is activated, and has beenconfigured by the user (either through the sensing of an internal,external, or networked event) to replicate certain user data items(including messages of type A or C) to the mobile device 24, when themessage A is received at the host system 10A, the redirector program 12detects its presence and prepares the message for redirection to themobile device 24. In preparing the message for redirection, theredirector program 12 may compress the original message A, it may justcompress the message header, or it may encrypt the entire message A tocreate a secure link to the mobile device 24.

The address of the user's mobile data communication device 24, the typeof device, and whether the device 24 can accept certain types ofattachments, such as word processing or voice attachments, are alsoprogrammed into the redirector 12. If the user's type of mobile devicecannot accept a particular type of attachments, then the redirector 12can be programmed to route those attachments to a fax or voice numberwhere the user is located using an attached fax or voice machine 30.

The redirector 12 may also be programmed with a “preferred list mode”operation that is configured by the user either at the host system 10A,or remotely from the user's mobile data communication device 24 bytransmitting a command message C. The “preferred list” in the “preferredlist mode” contains a list of senders (other users) whose messages areto be redirected, or it may contain a list of message characteristicsthat determine whether a message is to be redirected, or it may containboth a list of senders and a list of message characteristics. Forexample, a message characteristic may relate to the size of the message,or the type of message, or whether the message has any attachments, orwhether the message is originating from a particular domain. Ifactivated, the preferred list mode causes the redirector program 12 tooperate like a filter, only redirecting certain user data items based onwhether the data item was sent from a sender on the preferred list orhas certain message characteristics that if present will trigger orsuppress redirection of the message.

In the example of FIG. 1, if desktop system 26 was operated by a user onthe preferred list of host system 10A, and the preferred list option wasactivated, then message A would be redirected. If, however, desktop 26was operated by a user not on the host system's preferred list, thenmessage A would not be redirected, even if the user of the host systemhad configured the redirector to push messages of type A. The user ofthe host system 10A can configure the preferred list directly from thedesktop system 10A, or, alternatively, the user can send a commandmessage (such as C) from the mobile device 24 to the desktop system 10Ato activate the preferred list mode, or to add or delete certain sendersor message characteristics from the previously configured preferredlist. In this manner, the user can remotely control the operation of thepreferred list mode filter so as to dynamically alter the filteringcharacteristics of the redirector program 12.

After the redirector 12 has determined that a particular message shouldbe redirected, and it has prepared that message for redirection, thesoftware 12 then sends the message A to a secondary memory store locatedin the mobile device 24. In doing so, the redirector preferablyrepackages message A as an E-mail with an outer envelope B that containsthe addressing information of the mobile device 24, although alternativerepackaging techniques and protocols could be used, such as a TCP/IPrepackaging and delivery method (most commonly used in the alternativeserver configuration shown in FIG. 2). The wireless gateway 20 requiresthis outer envelope information B in order to know where to send theredirected message A. Once the message (A in B) is received by themobile device 24, the outer envelope B is removed, and the originalmessage A is placed in the secondary memory store within the mobiledevice 24. By repackaging and removing the outer envelope in thismanner, the present invention causes the mobile computer 24 to appear tobe at the same physical location as the host system 10, thus creating atransparent system.

In the case where message C is representative of an external messagefrom a computer on the Internet 18 to the host system 10A, and the host10A has been configured to redirect messages of type C, then in asimilar manner to message A, message C would be repackaged with an outerenvelope B and transmitted to the user's mobile device 24. In the casewhere message C is representative of a command message from the user'smobile device 24 to the host system 10A, the command message C is notredirected, but is acted upon by the host system 10A.

If the redirected user data item is an E-mail message, as describedabove, the user at the mobile device 24 sees the original subject,sender's address, destination address, carbon copy and blind carbon copyinformation. When the user replies to this message, or when the userauthors a new message, the software operating at the mobile device 24adds a similar outer envelope to the reply message (or the new message)to cause the message to be routed first to the user's host system 10A,which then removes the outer envelope and redirects the message to thefinal destination, such as back to computer 26. In the preferredembodiment, this results in the outgoing redirected message from theuser's host system 10A being sent using the E-mail address of the hostmailbox, rather than the address of the mobile device, so that itappears to the recipient of the message that the message originated fromthe user's desktop system 10A rather than the mobile data communicationdevice 24. Any replies to the redirected message will then be sent tothe desktop system 10A, which if it is still in redirector mode, willrepackage the reply and re-send it to the user's mobile data device 24,as described above.

FIG. 2 is an alternative system diagram showing the redirection of userdata items from a network server host system 10B to the user's mobiledata communication device 24, where the redirector software 12 isoperating at the server 10B. This configuration is particularlyadvantageous for use with message servers such as Microsoft's® ExchangeServer, which is normally operated so that all user messages are kept inone central location (or mailbox store) on the server instead of in amemory store within each user's desktop PC. This configuration has _ theadditional advantage of allowing a single system administrator toconfigure and keep track of all users having messages redirected. If thesystem includes encryption keys, these too can be kept at one place formanagement and update purposes.

In this alternative configuration, server 10B preferably maintains auser profile for each user's desktop system 26, 28, includinginformation such as whether a particular user can have data itemsredirected, which types of message and information to redirect, whatevents will trigger redirection, the address of the users' mobile datacommunication device 24, the type of mobile device, and the user'spreferred list, if any. The event triggers are preferably detected atthe user's desktop system 26, 28 and can be any of the internal,external or networked events listed above. The desktop systems 26, 28preferably detect these events and then transmit a message to the serverhost computer 10B via LAN 14 to initiate redirection. Although the userdata items are preferably stored at the server host computer 10B in thisembodiment, they could, alternatively, be stored at each user's desktopsystem 26, 28, which would then transmit them to the server computer 10Bafter an event has triggered redirection.

As shown in FIG. 2, desktop system 26 generates a message A that istransmitted to and stored at the host system 10B, which is the networkserver operating the redirector program 12. The message A is for desktopsystem 28, but in this embodiment, user messages are stored at thenetwork server 10B. When an event occurs at desktop system 28, an eventtrigger is generated and transmitted to the network server 10B, whichthen determines who the trigger is from, whether that desktop 28 hasredirection capabilities, and if so, the server 10B (operating theredirector program 12) uses the stored configuration information toredirect message A to the mobile computer 24 associated with the user ofdesktop system 28.

As described above with reference to FIG. 1, message C could be either acommand message from a user's mobile data communication device 24, or itcould be a message from an external computer, such as a computerconnected to the Internet 18. If the message C is from an Internetcomputer to the user's desktop system 28, and the user has redirectioncapabilities, then the server 10B detects the message C, repackages itusing electronic envelope B, and redirects the repackaged message (C inB) to the user's mobile device 24. If the message C is a command messagefrom the user's mobile device 24, then the server host computer 10Bsimply acts upon the command message using the redirector program 12.

Turning now to FIG. 3, a block diagram is set forth that demonstratesthe interaction of the redirector software 12 with additional componentsof the desktop host system 10A shown in FIG. 1 (i.e., the desktop PC) toenable more fully the pushing of information from the host system 10A tothe user's mobile data communication device 24. These additionalcomponents are illustrative of the type, of event-generating systemsthat can be configured and used with the redirector software 12, and ofthe type of repackaging systems that can be used to interface with themobile communication device 24 to make it appear transparent to theuser.

The desktop host system 10A is connected to LAN 14, and can send andreceive data, messages, signals, event triggers, etc., to and from othersystems connected to the LAN 14. Through the LAN, the system 10A canalso communicate with external networks 18, 22, such as the Internet ora wireless data network. In addition to the standard hardware, operatingsystem, and application programs associated with a typical microcomputeror workstation, the desktop system 10A includes the redirector program12, a TCP/IP sub-system 42, an E-mail sub-system 44, a primary datastorage device 40, a screen saver sub-system 48, and a keyboardsub-system 46. The TCP/IP and E-mail subsystems 42, 44 are examples ofrepackaging systems that can be used to achieve the transparency of thepresent invention, and the screen saver and keyboard sub-systems 46, 48are examples of event generating systems that can be configured togenerate event messages or signals that trigger redirection of the userselected data items.

The method steps carried out by the redirector program 12 are describedin more detail in FIG. 4. The basic functions of this program are: (1)to configure and setup the user-defined event trigger points that willstart redirection; (2) to configure the types of user data items forredirection and optionally configure a preferred list of senders whosemessages are to be redirected; (3) to configure the type andcapabilities of the user's mobile data communication device; (4) toreceive messages and signals from the repackaging systems and the eventgenerating systems; and (5) to command and control the redirection ofthe user-selected data items to the mobile data communication 24 devicevia the repackaging systems. Other functions not specifically enumeratedcould also be integrated into this program.

The E-Mail sub-system 44 is the preferred link to repackaging theuser-selected data items for transmission to the mobile datacommunication device 24, and preferably uses industry standard mailprotocols, such as SMTP, POP, IMAP, MIME and RFC-822, to name but a few.The E-Mail sub-system 44 can receive messages A from external computerson the LAN 14, or can receive messages C from some external network suchas the Internet 18 or a wireless data communication network 22, andstores these messages in the primary data store 40. Assuming that theredirector 12 has been triggered to redirect messages of this type, theredirector detects the presence of any new messages and instructs theE-Mail system 44 to repackage the message by placing an outer wrapper Babout the original message A (or C), and by providing the addressinginformation of the mobile data communication device 24 on the outerwrapper B. As noted above, this outer wrapper B is removed by the mobiledevice 24, and the original message A (or C) is then recovered, thusmaking the mobile device 24 appear to be the desktop system 10A.

In addition, the E-Mail sub-system 44 receives messages back from themobile device 24 having an outer wrapper with the addressing informationof the desktop system 10A, and strips this information away so that themessage can be routed to the proper sender of the original message A (orC). The E-Mail sub-system also receives command messages C from themobile device 24 that are directed to the desktop system 10A to triggerredirection or to carry out some other function. The functionality ofthe E-Mail sub-system 44 is controlled by the redirector program 12.

The TCP/IP sub-system 42 is an alternative repackaging system. Itincludes all of the functionality of the E-Mail sub-system 44, butinstead of repackaging the user-selected data items as standard E-mailmessages, this system 42 repackages the data items using special-purposeTCP/IP packaging techniques. This type of special-purpose sub-system isuseful in situations where security and improved speed are important tothe user. The provision of a special-purpose wrapper that can only beremoved by special software on the mobile device 24 provides addedsecurity, and by bypassing E-mail store and forward systems, the speedof delivery of messages can be improved.

As described previously, the present invention can be triggered to beginredirection upon detecting numerous external, internal and networkedevents, or trigger points. Examples of external events include:receiving a command message from the user's mobile data communicationdevice 24 to begin redirection; receiving a similar message from someexternal computer; sensing that the user is no longer in the vicinity ofthe host system; or any other event that is external to the host system.Internal events could be a calendar alarm, screen saver activation,keyboard timeout, programmable timer, or any other user-defined eventthat is internal to the host system. Networked events are user-definedmessages that are transmitted to the host system from another computerthat is connected to the host system via a network to initiateredirection.

The screen saver and keyboard sub-systems 46, 48 are examples of systemsthat are capable of generating internal events. Functionally, theredirector program 12 provides the user with the ability to configurethe screen saver and keyboard systems so that under certain conditionsan event trigger will be generated that can be detected by theredirector 12 to start the redirection process. For example, the screensaver system can be configured so that when the screen saver isactivated after, for example, 10 minutes of inactivity on the desktopsystem, an event trigger is transmitted to the redirector 12, whichstarts redirecting the previously selected user data items. In a similarmanner, the keyboard sub-system can be configured to generate eventtriggers when no key has been depressed for a particular period of time,thus indicating that redirection should commence. These are just twoexamples of the numerous application programs and hardware systemsinternal to the host system 10A that can be used to generate internalevent triggers.

FIGS. 4 and 5, set forth, respectively, flow charts showing the stepscarried out by the redirector software 12 operating at the desktop hostsystem 10A, and the steps carried out by the mobile data communicationdevice 24 in order to interface with the host system. Turning first toFIG. 4, at step 50, the redirector program 12 is started and initiallyconfigured. The initial configuration of the redirector 12 includes: (1)defining the event triggers that the user has determined will triggerredirection; (2) selecting the user data items for redirection; (3)selecting the repackaging sub-system, either standard E-Mail, orspecial-purpose technique; (4) selecting the type of data communicationdevice, indicating whether and what type of attachments the device iscapable of receiving and processing, and inputting the address of themobile device 24; and (5) configuring the preferred list of userselected senders whose messages are to be redirected.

FIG. 4 sets forth the basic steps of the redirector program 12 assumingit is operating at a desktop host system 10A, such as shown in FIG. 1.If the redirector 12 is operating at a network server host system 10B,as shown in FIG. 2, then additional configuration steps may be necessaryto enable redirection for a particular desktop system 26, 28 connectedto the server 10B, including: (1) setting up a profile for the desktopsystem 26, 28 indicating its address, events that will triggerredirection, and the data items that are to be redirected upon detectingan event; (2) maintaining a storage area at the server 10B for the dataitems; and (3) storing the type of data communication device 24 to whichthe desktop system's data items are to be redirected, whether and whattype of attachments the device 24 is capable of receiving andprocessing, and the address of the mobile device 24.

Once the redirector program is configured 50, the trigger points (orevent triggers) are enabled at step 52. The program 12 then waits 56 formessages and signals 54 to begin the redirection process. A messagecould be an E-Mail message or some other user data item that may havebeen selected for redirection, and a signal could be a trigger signal,or could be some other type of signal that has not been configured as anevent trigger. When a message or signal is detected, the programdetermines 58 whether it is one of the trigger events that has beenconfigured by the user to signal redirection. If so, then at step 60 atrigger flag is set, indicating that subsequently received user dataitems (in the form of messages) that have been selected for redirectionshould be pushed to the user's mobile data communication device 24.

If the message or signal 54 is not a trigger event, the program thendetermines at steps 62, 68 and 66 whether the message is, respectively,a system alarm 62, an E-Mail message 64, or some other type ofinformation that has been selected for redirection. If the message orsignal is none of these three items, then control returns to step 56,where the redirector waits for additional messages 54 to act upon. If,however the message is one of these three types of information, then theprogram 12 determines, at step 68, whether the trigger flag has beenset, indicating that the user wants these items redirected to the mobiledevice 24. If the trigger flag is set, then at step 70, the redirector12 causes the repackaging system (E-Mail or TCP/IP) to add the outerenvelope to the user data item, and at step 72 the repackaged data itemis then redirected to the user's mobile data communication device 24 viaLAN 14, WAN 18, wireless gateway 20 and wireless network 22. Controlthen returns to step 56 where the program waits for additional messagesand signals to act upon.

Although not shown explicitly in FIG. 4, after step 68 the programcould, if operating in the preferred list mode, determine whether thesender of a particular data item is on the preferred list, and if not,then the program would skip over steps 70 and 72 and proceed directlyback to step 56. If the sender is on the preferred list, then controlreturns to steps 70 and 72 for repackaging and transmission of themessage from the preferred list sender to the mobile device 24.

FIG. 5 sets forth the method steps carried out by the user's mobile datacommunication device, 24 in order to interface to the redirector program12 of the present invention. At step 80, the mobile software is startedand the mobile device 24 is configured to operate with the system of thepresent invention, including, for example, storing the address of theuser's desktop system 10A.

At step 82, the mobile device waits for messages and signals 84 to begenerated or received. Assuming that the redirector software 12operating at the user's desktop system 10A is configured to redirectupon receiving a message from the user's mobile device 24, then at step86 the user can decide to generate a command message that will startredirection at the host system 10A. If the user does so, then at step 88the redirection message is composed and sent to the desktop system 10Avia the wireless network 22, through the wireless gateway 20, via theInternet 18 to the LAN 14, and is finally routed to the desktop machine10A.

In this situation where the mobile device 24 is sending a messagedirectly to the desktop system 10A, no outer wrapper is added to themessage (such as message C in FIGS. 1 and 2). In addition to theredirection signal, the mobile device 24 could transmit any number ofother commands to control the operation of the host system 10A, and inparticular the redirector program 12. For example, the mobile 24 couldtransmit a command to put the host system 10A into the preferred listmode state, and then could transmit additional commands to add orsubtract certain senders or certain message characteristics from thepreferred list. In this manner, the mobile device 24 can dynamicallylimit the amount of information being redirected to it by altering thepreferred list.

Other example commands include: (1) a message to change theconfiguration of the host system 10A to enable the mobile device 24 toreceive and process certain attachments; and (2) a message to instructthe host system 10A to redirect an entire data item to the mobile device24 in the situation where only a portion of a particular data item hasbeen previously redirected.

Turning back to FIG. 5, if the user signal or message is not a directmessage to the desktop system 10A to begin redirection (or some othercommand), then control is passed to step 90, which determines if amessage has been received. If a message is received by the mobile, andit is a message from the user's desktop 10A, as determined at step 92,then at step 94 a desktop redirection flag is set “on” for this message,and control passes to step 96 where the outer envelope is removed.Following step 96, or in the situation where the message is not from theuser's desktop 10A, as determined at step 92, control passes to step 98,which displays the message for the user on the mobile device's display.The mobile unit 24 then returns to step 82 and waits for additionalmessages or signals.

If the mobile device 24 determines that a message has not been receivedat step 90, then control passes to step 100, where the mobile 24determines whether there is a message to send. If not, then the mobileunit returns to step 82 and waits for additional messages or signals. Ifthere is at least one message to send, then at step 102 the mobile 24determines whether it is a reply message to a message that was receivedby the mobile unit. If the message to send is a reply message, then atstep 108, the mobile 24 determines whether the desktop redirection flagis on for this message. If the redirection flag is not on, then at step106 the reply message is simply transmitted from the mobile device 24 tothe destination address via the wireless network 22. If, however, theredirection flag is on, then at step 110 the reply message is repackagedwith the outer envelope having the addressing information of the user'sdesktop system 10A, and the repackaged message is then transmitted tothe desktop system 10A at step 106. As described above, the redirectorprogram 12 executing at the desktop system then strips the outerenvelope and routes the reply message to the appropriate destinationaddress using the address of the desktop system 10A as the “from” field,so that to the recipient of the redirected message, it appears as thoughit originated from the user's desktop system rather than the mobile datacommunication device.

If, at step 102, the mobile 24 determines that the message is not areply message, but an original message, then control passes to step 104,where the mobile 24 determines if the user is using the redirectorsoftware 12 at the desktop system 10A, by checking the mobile unit'sconfiguration. If the user is not using the redirector software 12, thenthe message is simply transmitted to the destination address at step106. If, however, the mobile determines that the user is using theredirector software 12 at the desktop system 10A, then control passes tostep 110, where the outer envelope is added to the message. Therepackaged original message is then transmitted to the desktop system10A at step 106, which, as described previously, strips the outerenvelope and routes the message to the correct destination. Followingtransmission of the message at step 106, control of the mobile 24returns to step 82 and waits for additional messages or signals.

Now with reference to FIGS. 6-8, there will be described an alternativetwo-host Internet-based system using many of the features of the systemdescribed in the network-based host system 10B configuration shown inFIG. 2. In the system shown in FIGS. 6-8, however, instead of a singlehost system 10B for storing the user's messages and for operating theredirector program 12, there are two hosts, a messaging host 230, wherethe user's data items are stored, and a wireless redirector host system240, where a wireless redirector program 242 operates. These two hostsystem are preferably coupled together via the Internet 218. Thewireless redirector program 242 is similar in many respects to theredirector program 12 described above, but is configured forcommunicating with a wireless gateway 260 coupled to a wireless datanetwork 222.

With reference to FIG. 6, there is shown an example system diagramshowing the redirection of user data items, such as message A, from userA's desktop PC 204 to user B's mobile data communication device 220, oralternatively, message B from user B's mobile communication device 220to user A. In this example, the messaging host system 230 maintains andstores data items received from the Internet 218 for user B in a messageinbox. In this particular system example, the messaging host system 230is preferably an Internet Service Provider (“ISP”) that providesconnectivity to the Internet 218 for a plurality of users, includinguser B. In another embodiment of the present invention, the messaginghost 230 may be a web-based E-mail hosting service such as MSN Hotmail™or a variety of other known web-based E-mail hosting systems. In anotherembodiment of the invention, the E-mail hosting service supplies astrictly wireless solution.

In this embodiment of the invention, the messaging host system 230 isconfigured so as to forward a copy of all incoming data items destinedfor user B's inbox to a second host referred to herein as a wirelessredirector host system 240. The wireless redirector host system 240includes the wireless redirector program 242. Advantageously, data itemsdestined for a user of the messaging host system 230 having a mobilecommunication device are continuously “pushed” to the wirelessredirector host system 240 as they arrive at the messaging host system230. Upon arrival at the redirector host system 240, a wirelessredirector software program 242 operating at the system 240 determineswhether such data items are user-selected data items to be pushed via awireless network 222 to the user's mobile communications device 220. Inthis manner, user-selected data items are advantageously pushed out tothe mobile communication device 220 contemporaneously as they arrive tothe messaging host system 230 so that the user need not be concernedabout delays in receiving user-selected data items on the user's mobilecommunication device 220.

The wireless redirector host system 240 acts primarily as a gateway fordata items received from the Internet 218 and those specific data itemsthat have been user pre-selected to S be redirected (via filtering rulesto be described later) to the user's mobile communications device viathe wireless network 222. These filtering rules are similar to the“preferred list mode” operation described above with respect to thesystems shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Message A in FIG. 6 represents a data item, such as an E-mail message,sent from user A's desktop PC 204 having user B as the recipient.Because user B has a mailbox on the messaging host system 230, themessage A will be directed via the Internet to the host system 230. Theflow of this message A is shown in a single solid line 206.

Message B in FIG. 6 represents an external message created on and sentfrom user B's mobile data communications device 220 having user A as arecipient. Alternatively, message B also may represent a command messagefrom user B's mobile data communication device 220 to the wirelessredirector host system 240. The flow of this message B is shown in asingle dashed line 258.

As described in more detail in FIG. 7, the wireless redirector hostsystem 240 preferably includes, along with the typical hardware andsoftware associated with an Internet gateway, the wireless redirectorsoftware 242 which includes a mail handler, preferably a sendmail daemon(not shown), a local delivery agent (not shown), a plurality of wirelessmail stores 248 (preferably one for each mobile user such as user B), afilter database 250, and a mobile user profile database 254.

Also as described in more detail in FIG. 7, the messaging host system230 is preferably a Unix system that includes a sendmail daemon 232, a“.forward” file 238, and a memory storage area 236 for storing the dataitems of certain user's that are having messages redirected to theirmobile data communication devices 220.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7, the two-host system invention will firstbe described by way of example with reference to message A. FIG. 6 showsan E-mail message A being communicated over the Internet 218 from userA's desktop PC 204 destined for user B's inbox, which is located on themessaging host system 230. Once the message A reaches a mail handler 252at the messaging host 230, such as a sendmail daemon 232 in thepreferred embodiment, it can be detected and acted upon by this system230.

One of the objectives of the present invention is to be as non-obtrusiveas possible to the messaging host system 230 so as to make the inventionsimple to install and implement for ISPs. The messaging host system 230may be configured in many ways to detect such messages. Since not allusers of the ISP will have a mobile communication device 220, it ispreferable that the system 230 includes a unique user file that isaccessed and modified upon the arrival of any new message. The preferredmethod of detecting new messages, such as message A, is using Unix's“.forward” file 238. Preferably, the redirection (or forwarding) of dataitems is accomplished by modifying the “.forward” file 238 typicallyfound in the user's root directory at the messaging host system 230,such as an ISP. The “.forward” file is a simple ASCII text filecomprising at least a list of one or more E-mail addresses (with somecontrol information). The sendmail daemon 232 checks for the existenceof this file 238, and uses its content to forward data items to theappropriate locations. Other methods of detecting and forwarding newdata items destined for a user having a mobile communications device 220could also be used and such other methods are well within the scope ofthe present invention.

An example of the content of the “.forward” file modified for thepresent invention is:

-   -   \bgilhuly@isp.net bgilhuly@wirelessredirectorhost.net        In this example, the sendmail daemon 232 would redirect a copy        of any incoming data items to those two addresses, namely        “bgilhuly@isp.net” and “bgilhuly@wirelessredirectorhost.net.” In        the latter case, the data item would, preferably, be sent via        the Internet to the wireless redirector host system 240 for        further handling by the wireless redirector software program        242. The former address requires the sendmail daemon 232 to send        the data item to user B's inbox of the local data item store        236. User B may access his data items in the inbox as he        traditionally does—by, for example, POP3 or IMAP. In this        manner, the forwarding activity is transparent to the user. The        user B when viewing the inbox data items at his desktop PC 202        would know of the redirecting activity only by the message text        that may be added to the messages as they are redirected by the        mail handler.

Assuming that the redirector program 242 is activated at the wirelessredirector host system 240, and has been configured by the user toreplicate certain user data items (such as message A) to the mobilecommunications device 220, when the message A is received at thewireless redirector host system 240, the redirector program 242 detectsmessage A's presence L and prepares the message for a second redirectionto the mobile device 220. In preparing the message for the secondredirection, the redirector program 242 may compress the originalmessage A, it may compress the message header, or it may encrypt theentire message A to create a secure link to the mobile device 220.However, before the redirector program 242 compresses or encrypts themessage A and redirects it to the mobile device 220, it examines storeduser information and filtering rules that are associated with therecipient, user B, so as to determine how the message A should behandled.

A) Filtering

Preferably, before the redirector program 242 begins preparing themessage A for redirection, the redirector 242 examines the data itemwith respect to rules contained on a user B configurable filtering agent250 (see, FIG. 7) which essentially is a database of rules that are tobe applied for each user's incoming data items. The filtering agent 250is preferably accessible by the user via the World Wide Web in a filterweb page 252. The filter web page 252 allows the user, if the user sodesires, to access and apply a plurality of filtering rules or anycombination thereof that are to be applied to all incoming data itemsdestined for that user. Preferably, in addition to filtering rules, webpage 252 allows user B to switch between an active or inactive state forthe redirection of user B's incoming messages. This switching feature isparticularly useful during instances where user B is at his desktop PC202 and accessing his inbox of the local store 236 and desires that theredirection of incoming mail to his mobile device 220 to be temporarilydeactivated. The following criteria are exemplary of the types offiltering rules that may be available to the user: sender(s); howaddressed (To, CC, BCC); subject keyword(s); message keyword(s); andimportance (high, low, normal).

In any event, the filtering agent 250 is preferably hosted by thewireless redirector host system 240, but may be hosted by alternativehost systems, including the messaging host system 230 so long as theredirector program 242 has access to the most current set of rules andcan make a determination whether any particular data item has satisfiedall user-defined filtering rules. Alternatively implemented, thefiltering agent 250 may be combined with the user profile database 254.Data items that do not clear the filtering rules are marked as “handled”by the redirector program 242 in the wireless data item store 248, andare not further handled by the redirector 242.

B) User Profile

Also accessible by the redirector program 242 is the address of theuser's mobile data communication device 220, the user's SMTP address,the type of device 220, and whether the device 220 can accept certaintypes of attachments, such as word processing or voice attachments. Thisinformation is preferably maintained in a user profile database 254(see, FIG. 7). Such user information may be preferably created, updatedand removed via a web-based user administration page 256. Web page 256is preferably access-restricted to the system administrator of themessaging host system 230 who may from time to time add new users to thewireless redirection service. In addition to the above user information,the system administrator preferably has a switch control feature on theweb page 256 to deactivate or activate redirection of the data itemsfrom the host system 230 that takes precedence over the user's selectionon web page 252. This, advantageously, allows the system administer tomaintain control over the value-added service described herein.

If the user's type of mobile device 220 cannot accept certain types ofattachments, then the redirector program 242 can be programmed to routethe attachments to a fax or voice number where the user is located. Theuser may provide such information details to the redirector program 242via a return message created at the mobile device 220.

Advantageously, the web pages 252, 256 for configuring the filtering anduser administration information used by the system preferably requirethat each user or host administrator login with a password beforeaccessing the pages 252, 256. In addition, the web pages 252, 256 arepreferably designed with an interface look-and-feel that is similar tothe user's ISP or web-based E-mail host system. In this manner, themessaging host system 230 can be seen to be delivering a wireless E-mailsolution with its traditional services.

C) Redirection

After the redirector program 242 has determined that a particularmessage should be redirected, and it has prepared the message forredirection, the software 242 preferably converts the message from MIMEto CMIME (MIME is a standard Internet mail format, and CMIME is acompressed version of MIME), and then sends the message A to a memorystore located in the mobile communications device 220 via the wirelessgateway 250 and the wireless data network 222. In doing so, theredirector program 242 preferably packages message A as a message withan outer envelope A′ that contains the addressing information of themobile device 220. In the preferred embodiment, the outer envelope isGME. The wireless gateway 260 requires this outer envelope informationA′ in order to know where to send the redirected message A. Once therepackaged message (message A in A′) is received by the mobile device220, the outer envelope A′ is removed, and the original message A isplaced in the second memory store within the mobile device 220. Byremoving the outer envelope A′ and presenting to the user of mobiledevice 220 message A, the present invention-causes the mobile device 220to appear to be at the same physical location as the messaging hostsystem 230, or PC 202 in a transparent, scamlessly integrated Internetaccount hosted by messaging host system 230.

D) Outgoing Data Item From Mobile

If the redirected user data item is an E-mail message, as describedabove, then the user at the mobile device 220 sees the original subjectline, sender's address, destination address, and carbon copy address.Preferably and desirably, the redirection of the E-mail message A istransparent to the mobile communication device user. When the user, atthe mobile device 220, replies to message A, or when the user authors anew message (a reply or a new message collectively referred to as“message B”), the software operating at the mobile device 220 adds asimilar outer envelope (message B′) to the reply message B (or the newmessage B) to cause message B to be routed to the wireless redirectorhost system 240 via the wireless network 222, which then removes theouter envelope B′, repackages message B as message B″, and redirectsmessage B″ to the final destination, such as user A's PC desktop 204.

The general flow of such transmission is shown as a dotted line in FIG.6. In this embodiment of the invention, the removal of the outerenvelope B′ and repackaging of message B as envelope B″ results in theoutgoing redirected message B″ from the wireless redirector host system240 being sent using the E-mail address of the user's mailbox onmessaging host system 230, rather than the address of the mobile device220, so that it appears to the recipient of the message B″ that themessage originated from the user's desktop system. 202 or from themessaging host system 230 itself (as would be the case of a web-basedE-mail hosting system) rather than the mobile data communication device220. This transparency functionality is accomplished by the redirector242 modifying the ” from” and “reply to” identifiers associated with themessage B to now have the SMTP address of user B's messaging host system230 E-mail account. Advantageously, any replies to the message B″ willthen be sent to user B's inbox on messaging host system 230, which, ifit is still in redirector mode, will repackage the reply and resend itto user B's mobile data device 220, as described above.

In this embodiment, a copy of message B (labelled B′″) is redirected touser B's inbox at messaging host system 230 for retrieval and access byuser B at some later time—for recording keeping purposes. In doing so,the redirector program 242 preferably repackages message B as messageB′″ so as to now have modified addressing information. In this preferredinstance, the modified addressing information would include changing the“from” header information to read something to the following effect:“Sent from mobile communications device to recipient” where ‘recipient’would be the recipient's address of message B″. This message B′″ isforwarded, preferably via the Internet 218, to the messaging host system230.

As shown in FIG. 7, the messaging host system is preferably configuredas an ISP. Here, the ISP system 230 includes a mail handler, such as asendmail daemon 232, which forwards the copy B′″ to the local data itemstore 236 by a local delivery agent (not shown). Further, user B maypreferably configure his local inbox of data items at the desktop 202 tostore such copy messages in a specific inbox for mobile datacommunications device data items. Of course in this illustrativeexample, messaging host system 230 is configured to redirect allincoming data items to wireless redirector host system 240; therefore,sendmail 232 would detect a new message and the “.forward” file 238would again be accessed and the forwarding information therein actedupon. Consequently, message B′″ is redirected (not shown) to redirectorhost system 240. At the redirector host system 240, the redirector ispreferably programmed to detect that such a message B′″ is only aredirection of message B′″ sent therefrom. As such, the redirectorignores this re-redirected message by preferably marking such messagesas handled. Alternatively, the mail handler 232 at the messaging hostsystem 230 is configured to detect such messages and to not redirectsuch messages.

It is to be understood that a plurality of messaging host systems 230may use a single redirector host system 240 for redirection of users'E-mail messages. Further still, a single redirector program 242 may beused to service the plurality of messaging host systems 230.

Finally, turning to FIG. 8, a flow chart is set forth showing the stepscarried out by the redirector program 242 operating at the redirectorhost system 240 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The basic steps carried out bythe mobile communications device 220 in order to interface with theredirector host system 240 may be accomplished by substantially the samesteps as shown in FIG. 5, although modified for this two-host aspect ofthe invention.

The flow chart in FIG. 8 assumes that the redirector program 242 hasbeen activated and is operating. Additional configuration steps will benecessary to enable redirection services for a new messaging host system230. These additional configuration steps include: (1) setting up aprofile for the new messaging host system 230 indicating its address,etc. (2) setting up individual user profiles, (3) initiating defaultfiltering rules for incoming messages from the messaging host system forthe users, and (4) making available both the filtering rule 252 and userprofile 256 web pages. The flow chart also assumes the necessary stepshave been undertaken to configure the messaging host system 230 toforward a copy of all incoming messages to the redirector host system240 (i.e., the Unix “.forward” file has been properly configured.)

Once the messaging host system 230 is configured 268 and the redirectorprogram 242 is configured 270, the program 242 then waits for data itemsat step 272. As discussed earlier, data items need not be limited toE-mail messages but may also include signals that are representative ofuser profile changes or filtering rule changes.

When a data item is detected, the program determines at steps 274, 276and 278 whether the data item is, respectively, a user profile change274, a message from the Internet 276, or a message from the wirelessmobile device 278. If the data item is a user profile change, then theappropriate user profile change is made at 280. Control then returns tostep 272 where the program waits for additional data items. If the dataitem is a message from the Internet, then the appropriate user profileinformation is checked and applied at step 290. The program then checksif the filter rules have changed at step 292. If so, the filter rulesare reloaded. Next, the filter rules are applied at step 296. If themessage does not clear all applicable redirection filter rules at step297, the preparation and redirection steps 298 and 300, respectively,are skipped. The message is thus ignored and control is returned to theredirector program 242 at step 272. Assuming, however, that the message(or at least a portion thereof) is to be redirected, then the message isprepared for redirection at step 298. In the preparation step 298, theredirector pro gram 242 adds the outer envelope to the message f o rwireless transmission. At step 300, the repackaged message is thenforwarded to the user's mobile device 220 via LAN 258, wireless gateway260 an d wireless network 222. Control then returns to step 272 wherethe program waits for additional data items to act upon.

If, at step 278, there is a de termination that the data item is amessage from the mobile device 220, then the message is prepared forInternet redirection at step 284. Preparation would preferably includechanging the “from” and “reply to” fields of the message to replicatethe address of the user's SMTP address at the messaging host system230—the resulting message referred to as message B″ in FIG. 6. Also, thepreparation step may include making a second copy of the message, suchmessage referred to as message B′″ in FIG. 6. In this second copy, the“from” field is changed to, preferably, “Sent from the mobile device toRecipient” where ‘Recipient’ is the SMTP address of the recipient ofmessage B″. At step 286, previous messages or attachments are preferablyappended. At step 288, one message is forwarded to the recipient(message B″) and the copy of the message (message B′″) is forwarded tothe user's messaging host system 230 destined for the user's local dataitem store 236 for record keeping purposes, Control then returns to step272, where the program waits for additional data items to act upon. If,at step 278, there is a determination that the data item is not amessage from the wireless device, other functions may be performed bythe redirector program 242 if so programmed to do so. For instance, themessage could be a command message such as described earlier in thisapplication where additional text of the E-mail message not previouslytransmitted to the device 220 may now be transmitted in its entirety.

Although not explicitly shown in the flowchart, if at step 276 there isa determination that the message is from the Internet, then theredirector program 242 would check whether the message is are-redirected message from the messaging host system 230. If so,all-subsequent steps are skipped (the message is ignored) and control isreturned to step 272. In this manner, re-redirected messages are notredirected to the mobile device 220. Alternatively implemented, thisdetermination could be undertaken at step 296 as part of the defaultfiltering rules. It is to be understood that the user profile andfiltering rules could alternatively be combined together, thuseliminating a step(s). This is, of course, well within the scope of thepresent invention.

Although not shown, the additional step of maintaining the wireless dataitem store 248 is another step(s) that the redirector would preferablymanage. At a predetermined storage threshold either by date or size,each user's earliest stored data item would be deleted to make room fornewer incoming data items.

Having described in detail the preferred embodiments of the presentinvention, including the preferred methods of operation, it is to beunderstood that this operation could be carried out with differentelements and steps. This preferred embodiment is presented only by wayof example and is not meant to limit the scope of the present inventionwhich is defined by the following claims.

1. A computer-readable medium having a set of instructions executable by a processing entity disposed in a wide-area data L network, comprising: a code portion for automatically detecting receipt of a new data item from a messaging host system for a user over the wide-area data network; a code portion for determining if the new data item is to be redirected to the user's mobile device over a wireless network; and a code portion for processing at least a portion of the new data item for transmission thereof to the user's mobile device.
 2. A mobile data communication device, comprising: means for manipulating a set of filtering rules configured for a user associated with the mobile data communication device, the filtering rules operating in conjunction with a redirector component disposed in a wide-area data network; and means for determining that a data item received at the mobile data communication device responsive to the filtering rules is a data item redirected from the redirector component based on examining a redirection flag associated with the data item. 